


Breathe, Dee’

by ariavalt



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Absent John Winchester, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Nightmares, Pre-Series Dean Winchester, Pre-Series Sam Winchester, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:20:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22103218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariavalt/pseuds/ariavalt
Summary: Dean has a nightmare, Sam tries to help.Dean is 17 and Sam is 13.
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Kudos: 19





	Breathe, Dee’

Dean woke up with a huge breath, taking in all the air he could get. 

In his dream -nightmare- there was  so  much  _ water _ , trying to find its way to his lungs. 

He continued to take long breaths, gasping, for an entire minute. 

His eyes remained open wide, almost not even blinking; his heart, unable to calm down, seemed to come alive in his temples, jumping forward and backward. 

_ great, a headache is coming soon. _

Dean, moving only his eyes, explored the unfamiliar space, because with all that adrenaline in his veins he  _ had _ to do something. 

The ceiling had a dirty cream color, but there weren’t spots of water appearing because of pieces of old roof or broken tubes of cold water; and  _ that _ was good.

_ don’t worry, it was just a nightmare. _

His head moved in the direction of the only familiar thing in the motel room.

The thing, almost in response, snored, still sleeping.

_ good for you, Sam.  _

_ at least, one of us can.  _

_ I watched you die; again. _

The eldest of the two boys in a room with three beds leaned his head against the low headboard, putting his weight in his hands and sitting in a bed a little too soft. 

_ God, I hate soft beds . _

Those kinds of beds always seemed to make his dreams worse.

Dean spended some time making himself comfortable, but his shoulder blades were against the hard headboard and his head was beginning to spin, his ears were hearing things that weren’t there; the sound was similar to metal cutlery hitting glass cups (Sam used to love that sound, it made him laugh a lot when he was 2 years old) and at the same time there were sounds of  _ waves _ , and that really couldn’t be possible.

Basically, his ears were whistling and he was going insane.

_ perfect. _

He decided to sit on the side of the bed, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands ,  due to the dizziness.

He sighed.

It was a position he saw from Dad in his bad days. 

But it didn’t have the power of making him feel better.

_ does Dad feel the same? _

He sensed Sam shifting in the far bed at his left and turning in his direction.

The moment it took Sam to feel the  too soft bed and remember where he was, the younger brother grunted.

He asked: «’s everything okay?»

Dean’s voice didn’t seem to work in that particular moment, so the question remained unanswered.

After some seconds of silence, «Dean, com’here.» through dry lips the sound of those words came out sleepy.

Coughing a little: «Why?» Dean asked, leaning only on his right hand instead of both to lift his head from its safe spot covered from any sight .

Dean heard a small huff coming from the other bed.

«’Cause  _ I  _ don’t wanna come to you.», even barely awake Sam managed to sound sarcastic.

_teenager_ , the older thought, and at the same time  _he’s starting to sound like me_.

«Alright.», with fake annoyance.

Dean got up on shaking legs; his feet made contact with a dark hard carpet -maybe color red: they were always red, with a strange design, like blood on the images of a mitical book. 

Also, the fabric was bad, really bad, so much that it could have brought out urticaria on some delicate kid. 

_ it’s all so wrong in this place. _

_ it’s like I’m still in the dream.  _

The skin of his feet  _ was _ delicate, so he tried to hurry. 

The sound of the _ pat pat  _ of Dean’s naked feet on the floor, passed the ugly carpet, arrived to Sam’s ears; the youngest could have pointed out the time it would have taken Dean to sit on his bed. 

_ a few seconds. _

Dean was always quick in hunts, more than Sam (but he always waited for him).

And he was also  more quick in moments of a different kind of stress, like this: despite the strangely large room, and, with that, the distance between the beds, when Dean sat in the side of his bed, Sam didn’t even had time to switch on the lamp on his brown bedside table: one thing he wasn’t used to do but that he wanted to try.

After all, Dad and Dean this week won with poker more money than usual, and so the  _ motel _ was better than usual.

That didn’t mean it was cozy or well furnished or beautiful in general, but at least, it was clean.

With closed eyes, Sam took Dean’s wrist in both his hands, to have a better grip; he pressed his thumbs in the veins there to take his brother’s pulse, like Dad taught them in one of their first trainings.

«You’ heartbeat is too fast, Dee’.» 

Dean hummed a positive answer of acknowledge. 

«Calm down.» 

_ I can’t, Sam. _

Sam’s next intake of breath was more a sigh.

«Wha’ happened in you’ dream?»

Sam was used to this now. 

«I watched you die, Sam. Drowning.» 

Sam opened his eyelids, seeing Dean’s face in the night through half-closed eyes, waiting for more. 

_ I don’t want to tell you how this happened Sam. It was bad. _

But what came out of his mouth was different: «I can’t watch you die again. I can’t, Sammy.»

The force and the intensity of those spoken words made him close his eyes.

Eyes that were starting to  _ water. _

«We’ll find something for this. We can tell Dad.»

At that, Dean re-opened his eyes and he saw Sam’s finally fully open.

In the dark of the room, Dean’s eyes were shiny.

«Yeah, maybe.» Dean’s sight found the empty bed.

«I’m sorry Dean.» 

«It’s not your fault, Sammy.» 

And he really thought that, because these night conversations were the only things that made him feel sane sometimes.

«Yeah, ‘cause it’s Dad’s.»: the empty bed cought Sam’s eyes, too.

«It’s not this simple Sam, and you know it. Plus, this is all we have and it’s enough.»

_ Yeah, I understand what you’re saying. _

At least, they were together and alive. A lot of people were dead.

They were familiar with Death; they  _ searched _ people’s deaths on newspapers to find a new hunt.

But it wasn’t something the two brothers wanted to think or talk about. 

«You still have to calm down.»

«Yeah, I know.»

The heartbeat was too fast; it never stopped and it wasn’t going to in a relatively long time.

Sam shifted, making the blue blankets follow him.

«Okay,» Sam’s tone was serious, «I’m gonna do something...promise not to laugh.»

Dean almost laughed at  that,  because  _ really Sam, you can’t be insecure with those kind of things, with our job. _

«I promise.» smiling a little.

Sam took very  very  cautiously Dean’s hand, and brought it slowly to his neck, under his jaw.

Then he put three fingers on Dean’s, making Dean’s hand position itself on the right place.

When Sam withdraw his hand, Dean found himself pressing fingertips on Sam’s pulse point.

After some seconds, Sam’s heartbeat was all he could hear and feel, with his eyes closed.

It was strong, real,  _ alive . _

Dean’s hand was so cold against Sam’s skin, it could have left an handprint. 

«Dude, you’re freezing.»

Dean gave a small laugh: «Yeah, well, now I can warm up with your body heat.»

«Oh c’mon you’re such a jerk.»

Sam batted away Dean’s hand but Dean put it immediately back.

«Wait, it’s working.» 

Breathing out loud, Dean calmed himself, trying to stabilize his heartbeat with Sam’s.

The whole time Dean kept his eyes closed tightly.

But when he opened them, a destabilizing image came to sight.

Dean saw his hand around Sam’s neck, with his thumb across his brother’s entire neck.

_ I can break his neck in one move, right now.  _

And no, he really shouldn’t have thought that. 

His breath caught in his throat. 

He couldn’t help but think the water could have been him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work on this fandom (and ever) + English isn’t my first language, so if you find any mistake, please let me know <3


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